APPENDIX 30
Supplementary memorandum submitted by
Leslie Kossoff
FOLLOW UP
TO WTO AGREEMENT
ON GOVERNMENT
PROCUREMENT DISCUSSION
It was an honour to provide written and oral
testimony to the Select Committee on the subject of manufacturing
in the United Kingdom.
You mentioned that the Committee is going to
Brussels next week to discuss a variety of issues. William G.
Poeton CBE, Past President of the Union of Independent Companies
and Past Vice President of the EU's 187-strong Economic and Social
Committee, and I wanted to provide you and the Committee with
an overview of our perspective regarding the WTO Agreement on
Government Purchasing (AGP). It is:
— The very presence of the AGP has
enabled governments and big business organisations to pay lip
service to the encouragement of SMEs.
— The AGP limits the ability of the
UK Government to assist SMEs in their development—no matter
how well intended and committed to that outcome—by precluding
adequate contracting opportunities for SMEs.
— The result is that UK SMEs do not
have the same opportunities to scale and grow as their counterparts
in the countries which have opted out (ie. Canada, Japan, South
Korea and the United States).
Specific to the status of the process for opting
out:
— The end of March 2007 date is an
extension from the original "drop dead" decision date
of end of October 2006.
— There is no assurance that there
will be any further extensions beyond this point. They are not
built into the process.
— Those who support redrafting the
Agreement are too late. There is no time now, without risking
having to stay in for another 10 years.
As such, it is our recommendation that the UK
join those 15 countries already committed to opting out of the
Agreement.
31 January 2007
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